Pépé Kallé - Larger Than Life: 3.5 stars

Another one with ridiculously over-priced physicals. I need to change my listening habits.

Bob Weir - Ace: 7 (B+)

Might be an 8 (A-). I would get the remastered 2005 CD on Rhino if I could find it for a reasonable price. The 1972 LP is also hard to find for a reasonable price. Finally, the 2023 remastered "50th Anniversary" release comes padded with a second disc containing a recent live replaying.

Bon Iver - 22, A Million

:-|

Kaytranada - 99.9%

😑

The Silos - Cuba: 3.5 stars

Yaa-Lengi Ngemi - Oh, Miziki: 3.5 stars

 

Hawkwind - Quark Strangeness and Charm: 3.5 stars

Good one, but not going in the collection at import prices. I'd listen to Space Ritual if it were on Rhapsody.

Miles Davis - In Concert: 4 stars

I like this one a lot, but with greedy sellers asking for ridiculous prices on the 1997 remastered CD, and his estate only selling it in digital format, I'm going to skip adding it to the collection. Plus, there is too much other great double live electric Miles to fret over this one.

Eek-A-Mouse - Wa-Do-Dem [honorable mention]

:-) [5 listens, because it seems to be the one most people think is his best]

David Bowie - Stage: 3.5 stars

 

Never been a rabid Bowie completist, nor much of a fan of live albums, but this is pretty good (although not becoming part of the collection). I also gave Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture Soundtrack a listen or two (and watched the movie), and stopped at that. I still have to finish evaluating Live Santa Monica '72, because I feel like some live Bowie from his heyday is probably called for. Not even going to bother with David Live.

Various Artists - Epic AF: 3.5 stars

Virtual album or something. Kind of like a playlist, but good.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree: 4 stars

Way upgraded from neutral after my brother-in-law convinced me to listen yet again.

The Peter Brotzmann Octet - Machine Gun: 4 stars

 

My wife brilliantly described this as sounding like "some kind of machine malfunctioning." Sounds like a compliment to me. I streamed this only, because physicals are sold for extortionate prices.

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble - In Step: 3.5 stars

 

# [blues] [although I think I later got this as part of a box set]

The Beautiful South - Welcome to the Beautiful South: 3.5 stars

I'll stick with the best-of for this band (Carry on up the Charts). And Blue is the Color. But Woman in the Wall is the best song I have ever heard by them.

Royal Crescent Mob - Land of Sugar [EP]: 7 (B+)

Way too expensive used. I could try to buy it as part of SNOB, but I don’t want the extra live tracks, single, and alternate version (see separate review of that album). The whole point is that this is a mini-album.

The Housemartins - The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death: 3.5 stars

The Housemartins - London 0 Hull 4: 3.5 stars

Never been a big fan of Heaton's voice. Neither of this band's records are going in the collection, although I recognize and appreciate their artistry. They also do not appear to have kept their original relevance. I am marginally more open to The Beautiful South, I think because that band happens to be a more suitable backdrop for his voice. And that's all the thought I intend to give to the matter.

Solange - A Seat at the Table

😑

Paris - Pistol Politics

:-| [To me, 2010s Christgau has become to hip hop what 1980s Christgau was to R&B: over-inclusive and occasionally out of touch. This album is hugely repetitive.]

Atmosphere - Fishing Blues: 3.5 stars

Another solid effort.

Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygène

😑

Rodney K. Wood - Goodbye, my friend

I always got strength just from knowing that you were out there. I am glad that you are finally at peace wherever you are. Thank you for befriending me in that sunny hallway in Topliff Hall, on that fall day of the first football game of our freshman year. The world seemed full of nothing but beauty, light, and possibility, for the first time in my life. Everyone else had gone back to the game after gathering around a keg in that hallway during halftime, but you and I remained, alone and joyful together, both realizing we had found that rarest of gifts, a friend for life, and beyond. I'll rejoin you soon, my friend, wherever you are!

De La Soul - and the Anonymous Nobody ...

😑

Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression

😑

Eliot Sumner - Information

:-|

Pretenders - Learning to Crawl: 4 stars

Chimurenga Renaissance - Rize Vadzimu Rize: 7 (B+)

Vinyl-only

Mitski - Puberty 2

😑

Verckys & Orch.Vévé - 15 years Ago Vol. 1

😑

Pretenders - Packed!: 3.5 stars

I'm sticking with the A minus albums for this band.

Aswad - New Chapter

:-|

Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment - Surf: 3.5 stars

Pretty okay. Free download, no physicals.

The Speed Boys - That's What I Like: 3.5 stars

No reasonably-priced physicals, but worth getting to know.

Angel Olsen - My Woman

😑

Dwight Yoakam - Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room: 7 (B+)

# [country]

David Bowie - Young Americans

😑

The Jim Carroll Band - Catholic Boy: 3.5 star

I'd probably add this to the collection if physicals weren't so ridiculously overpriced.

Julia Holter - Have You in My Wilderness

😑

Grand Pepe Kalle Mpanya et Papy Tex/Empire Bakuba - Kanda Ya Nini?

😑

Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation: 5 stars

Radiohead - OK Computer: 10 (A+)

tUnE-yArDs - BiRd-BrAiNs: 5 stars

Lou Reed: Street Hassle: 3.5 stars

Zazou Bikaye - Mr. Manager: 7 (B+)

Don't want to buy the "expanded" reissue pictured here that appears at least twice as long as the original. And the original release is too expensive to buy at B+. [Review is for original edition - I did not listen to bonus tracks.]

Lou Reed - Lou Reed: 7 (B+)

John Prine - For Better, Or Worse

:-|

Sam Mangwana - Bilinga Linga Volume 1

😑

Macka-B - Buppie Culture: 3.5 stars

Some excellent songs, some not so excellent. For instance, I could do without the lecture on how white people cook eggs improperly. Still might buy a copy if weren't an expensive CD-R or import only. I'll try Sign of the Times. [Four listens]

Meridian Brothers - Devoción (Works 2005-2011): 3.5 stars

Nice. A little out there for my collection though.

Childish Gambino - EP

😑

Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool

:-|

Mose Fan Fan - Musicatelama: 4 stars

Young Thug/Bloody Jay - Black Portland: 8.5 (high A-)

Free mixtape. Printed out and put on shelf.

Jinx Lennon - Past Pupil Stay Sane

:-| [Incredibly long and somewhat irritating, like that drunk at the bar that won't pipe down but does occasionally make a great point that sticks with you.]

Jinx Lennon - Magic Bullets of Madness to Uplift the Grief Magnets: 7 (B+)

My wife says he sounds like a leprechaun, which I found to be hilariously true, and then had a hard time thinking of him as anything other than an aggro street-poet leprechaun. But the album is good, for those who like anti-folk, folk-punk, or whatever you want to call it. This one's a notch better than its co-release [Past Pupil Stay Sane] because it's got Clinic on it.

KRS-One - A Retrospective: 4 stars

Orchestra Super Mazembe - Mazembe @ 45RPM Vol. 2: 4 stars

 

A hair less good than Vol. 1. Download only.

Mahlathini & Mahotella Queens: Paris-Soweto: 7.5 (high B+)

 

# [mbaqanga] [Not sure why Christgau refers to this as "live," since there doesn't seem to be anything live about it. And he claims it's his "go-to" Mahlathini? But he never noticed it wasn't live? The liner notes even name the studio it was recorded in. Weird. In any event, I owned this once upon a time and sold it back after alot of hand-wringing trying to understand his "A" grade. It's a fine album.]

Hallelujah Chicken Run Band - Take One: 8 (A-)

So out of print, so fast, despite being so good. Can't find a reasonably priced CD, so I guess I'll have to skip it. [Re-issued so I bought it.]

Terry Allen - Lubbock (on everything): 3.5 stars

I don't know, maybe it's 4 stars -- I'm not a reliable evaluator of country music. Not going in the collection anyway.

David Bowie - Blackstar [honorable mention]

:-) [I have every Acclaimed Music top 100 album except this. I continue to believe that people over-rate this because Bowie released it in conjunction with his death, so it hits home for people harder than the music actually warrants. Many listens (7-10).]

Various Artists - L'Afrique Danse (African 360.126): 8 (A-)

Solid late '70s soukous. Those are the artists in large print on the cover. Three songs written by Koffi Olomide. Random download on Global Groove. Used vinyl way too expensive.

Jimi Hendrix - Blues: 3.5 stars

# [blues rock]

Various Artists - American Honey: 4 stars

 

A mishmash of older country and country-ish songs, alternative music and currently obscure mid-Western rappers. It doesn't totally gel but hangs together well enough. Download only, but won't print at this level.

Vieux Kanté - The Young Man's Harp: 3.5 stars

 

Very traditional Malian acoustic ngoni music. A little too traditional for my tastes, call me a philistine.

Le Super Biton National de Segou - Anthology: 4 stars

Trying to get a handle on this group's discography is challenging. They put out two albums in 1977 on the Mali Kundan (Mali Stars?) label. Both have the same title as this, and the same image and graphics, the first one being blue like this one and the second one being orange. Well, I guess those two are technically self-titled and this one is called "Anthology" because it has all the songs from the orange one and all the songs except two from the blue one, "Garan" and "Babu." I've listened to both of those missing songs on YouTube and can see why they were left off to keep this at a single CD. To complicate matters further, there is also a later release called Belle Epoque that is the orange album with an epic 15 minute track from the blue one added on ("Nyangaran Foli"). They also have a release called Afro Jazz du Mali from 1986 which I will review shortly.

Shoes - Present Tense/Tongue Twister: 3.5 stars

Please see immediately prior post for the details on this one. Also listened to Elektrafied once, which contains both of these, plus Boomerang.

Shoes - Black Vinyl Shoes: 7.5 (high B+)

 

I used to have a copy when it was very rare, but eventually sold it back to fund other purchases because I was never really into it. I might re-buy a physical now that it's back in print, if it wasn't one of those "buy it straight from the band for $20 shipped" jobbies. It's not worth that to me.

Issa Bagayogo - Sya: 3.5 stars

 

Nice mixture of typical Malian instrumentation and some modern electronic sounds. Not hugely compelling overall but still interesting. No real physical copies available, so it's not going in the collection. Might not anyway, but it makes the decision easier.

75 Dollar Bill - WOOD​/​METAL​/​PLASTIC​/​PATTERN​/​RHYTHM​/​ROCK: 7 (B+)

# [experimental; import] Vinyl-, import CD-, and cassette-only. REPETITIVE/DRONING/VELVETY/AFRICAN/VOICELESS/OKAY

Youssou N'Dour - Senegaal Rekk: 3.5 stars

The latest in music distribution: Not really available except as a stream on YouTube, with grainy, off-size images also findable. Sounds alot like his other work.